(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition for a polarizer protective film, a polarizer protective film, a polarizing plate including the same, and a preparation method of a polarizing plate, and, more specifically, to a resin composition for a polarizer protective film and a polarizer protective film exhibiting excellent physical and optical properties, a polarizing plate including the same, and a preparation method of a polarizing plate.
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0033001, filed on Mar. 27, 2013, Korean Patent Application No, 10-2013-0033003, filed on Mar. 27, 2013, Korean Patent Application No, 10-2014-0035586, filed on Mar. 26, 2014, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0035587, filed on Mar. 26, 2014, which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties into this application.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is one of a variety of flat panel displays which are currently widely available. Typically, an LCD is configured such that a liquid crystal layer is interposed between a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate and a color filter substrate. When an electric field is applied to electrodes of the array substrate and the color filter substrate, liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer interposed therehetween are differently arranged, thereby displaying an image.
Meanwhile, a polarizing plate is provided outside the array substrate and the color filter substrate. The polarizing plate enables selective transmission of light in a specific direction among light from a backlight unit and light passed through the liquid crystal layer, thus controlling polarization.
The polarizing plate includes a polarizer for polarizing light in a predetermined direction and a protective film attached to the polarizer to support and protect the polarizer.
As the protective film, a film of triacetylcellulose (TAC) is widely used. Furthermore, in order to achieve a film having high hardness and wear resistance, a protective film coated with a hard coating layer is proposed.
Meanwhile, recently, LCDs are used to the devices of various fields because the use thereof becomes extensive, and interests in improving the hardness and reducing the thickness of polarizing plate are rising.
Due to such necessity, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-010329 discloses the polarizing plate prepared by forming a protecting layer on the surface of a polarizer by using a photopolymerizable compound, without a TAC film. However, it is still required to develop polarizing plates having not only a sufficient hardness but also thinner thickness enough to make devices thinner and showing a sufficient flexibility for mass production process.